


Truest

by plasticlizard022



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avengers Tower, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Hydra Agent Reader (Marvel), Shameless Smut, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:40:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26708395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plasticlizard022/pseuds/plasticlizard022
Summary: After years of being deep undercover as an Avenger, you're finally assigned the mission you've been waiting for - Bucky Barnes.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	1. Target

**Author's Note:**

> Hey All! A couple of quick notes right at the start here :)  
> 1.) I hope to get on a more regular posting schedule here soon but I've got a bit on my plate at the moment so bear with me until I can get back to post daily :)  
> 2.) Shoutout to MrsReid62985, TheMissingPieces, Ajohnson, & everyone else who graciously leave comments on my past works! Y'all totally make my day with each comment and this one goes out to you <3

There wasn’t a big party or wild celebration to commemorate the addition of Sergeant James “Bucky” Barnes to the Avengers. Not only did he not want that kind of attention, but everyone was still harboring some form of unease considering he was the Winter Soldier. He had tried to kill just about everyone on the team at some point or another. 

Even though everyone was at an understanding that what he had done as the Winter Soldier had been the result of Hydra brainwashing him, it was still hard to erase the unease that clearly followed him from room to room. Regardless, everyone was attempting to be friendly and welcoming - at least, as much as they could afford to be. 

While it didn’t turn out to be an extravagant event, most of the team still gathered together anyway to formally introduce themselves and have a beer. Bucky wouldn’t admit it, but he was thankful that Steve hung around for the majority of the evening; he didn’t want to come across like a bashful child even if that’s how he felt. As someone who had spent the last few decades as nothing more than a killing machine, small talk was no longer his forte as it was back in the forties; he wasn’t that same man anymore and he didn’t even know how to pretend to be. 

“Did I miss the fun?” Bucky’s attention was drawn to the entrance of someone new - you. Your hair was still wet from your shower and left a giant wet spot on the back of your cotton shirt. Even though you knew why everyone had gathered together, you went for the fridge to grab a cold one before making your way over to Steve and his pal. 

“I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it,” Steve chuckled and placed a hand on your back. 

“Well, you guys got here early,” you exclaimed even though you knew full-well that you had arrived fashionably late just as you had planned it. You stuck your hand out and Bucky shook it. “(Y/N) (Y/L/N),” you introduced yourself. “You may remember me from a couple years ago when you broke my nose.” Now that you had mentioned it, Bucky could see the slight crookedness that often accompanied broken noses. 

“James, but everyone just calls me Bucky,” he replied, swallowing his guilt and discomfort by instead making a joke. “I’ve broken a lot of noses so I’m sorry if I don’t remember yours.” Well, he never said it would be a good joke. He managed to make you smile regardless of that. 

“Well, Bucky, nice to officially meet you. But I’m going to go drown myself in this mediocre IPA,” you grinned and excused yourself. Wanda had barely come of age and so you joined her in indulging yourself.

“What’s her deal?” Bucky asked Steve once you walked away, his eyes following you across the room. There was something about you that gave him an itch in the back of his subconscious. 

“(Y/N)?” Steve glanced down at Bucky and then over at you before a smirk curled the corner of his lips. Maybe he was reading into the situation wrong but, if he wasn’t, it seemed like Bucky might be a little smitten; a romance, while perhaps ill-timed, might be exactly what he needed to feel like himself again. 

Steve cleared his throat before hitting all of the key notes. “She’s been with SHIELD since she was eighteen. I think she’s the only person who could give Natasha a run for her money when it comes to undercover work.”

“She’s great on the job. She’s not always reliable outside of work, though. I’m not sure how that works but I guess she’s just got a good work ethic,” he shrugged. On a mission, you were never late by even a second nor did you rush into things before it was time. Outside of work, as tonight working as a good example, you had been late (fashionably late, as you’d claim) and you’d either be the first to leave or you’d stay long past your welcome. 

“You said she does undercover work?” Bucky asked, his eyes still following you - he hadn’t missed a single movement of yours. 

“Yeah, why?” 

Bucky shrugged. “No reason.” Even he wasn’t sure why that particular fact struck a chord deep inside him. He wasn’t sure what it was about you but he was drawn to you - but in what way? Sure, he could see that you were very attractive and it definitely wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for him to want you to warm his bed. But that didn’t seem to be it. It felt like he recognized you but he didn’t know from when; probably from one of the times he had attacked you. So, again, why didn’t that seem to be it either?

Most of the team cleared out and went back to their rooms after an hour or so. Bucky had settled on the couch where he had, thankfully, been left alone for the latter half of the night. Before heading back to your own room, you plopped down beside him and offered him a cold beer. “It gets easier,” you promised him. 

He raised his eyebrow, further prompting you to explain. “Joining the team. I mean, Wanda started joining us on missions in no time and she wasn’t even brainwashed when she attacked us. Oh - sorry, is that a sensitive topic? Let me reintroduce myself. Hi, I’m (Y/N) and I run my mouth a lot.” To finish your bit, you held your hand back out for him to shake again.

You were an odd one, he’d give you that; at least you were friendly. Maybe the two of you had been friends in another life or something… no, that wasn’t it, but he’d figure out why you made him feel like he did at some point or another. “It’s not really my favorite thing to do: look back at that time. But it’s not a topic I expect to avoid,” he stated. It wouldn’t be fair to make everyone walk around on eggshells concerning the topic of his time at Hydra; it just wasn’t something he was ready to joke about yet either. 

“Well, we take plenty of shots at Hydra. I personally find revenge to be the best remedy for trauma,” you smirked and clinked your beer bottle against his before retiring for the night. Just as you were walking out the door, you turned around in time to catch Bucky staring at your ass. His head had snapped away so quickly but not quickly enough for you to miss him looking. You laughed, “You can look. It’s good for business.” 

With that final note, you really did leave. Seduction was any woman’s most powerful weapon but, in your line of work, it could be deadly. It was your favorite tool and, through years of practicing and whetting, it was more efficient than anything else you had to offer. It got you what you wanted and, usually, quickly; a couple of weeks pretending to be interested in someone often yielded better results than holding that same person at gunpoint or even torturing them. 

With Bucky Barnes, that wouldn’t be any different. Considering everything that the man had gone through, you were absolutely positive that no amount of torture would make him squeal. Since he was in an especially vulnerable place in his life, you figured that your mission would be a piece of cake. 

Why had you really been late to the party? Because you enjoyed arriving late to events for the glamor of having all eyes on you as you entered? Perhaps that was a small part of it. Because you had been showering? That had been your cover. No, you were late because you had been contacted by Hydra for the first time in years. At this point, you were so deep undercover that you could count on one hand the amount of people at Hydra that knew who you were - the rest had either been arrested or killed. It was good for Hydra to have an agent truly on the inside in case the need arose for sabotage or something equally devious. You had spent years betraying and attacking the organization that you worked for to finally receive your mission; everything had led up to this moment. 

Your target? Bucky Barnes. Your mission? Bring him in or get him to talk; during his time as the Winter Soldier, he had been privy to plenty of classified and valuable information that had been lost (some things were too private to even put on paper). He was the only one that could give Hydra the information they needed. 

The plan was easy. You’d get him to fall in love with you and then he’d tell you everything you wanted to know. Once you had the information, you’d pass it along to your superiors. If you played your cards right, it might not even blow your cover. 

You were excited. Finally, you had a mission and a purpose. Another year of pretending to be an Avenger and you might’ve actually switched sides just for the hell of it. Not only were you glad to have a mission, but you were excited about the challenge that it presented. Even though you figured that it would be a relatively standard mission, your target was still one of the world’s most notorious assassins. Not to mention that he wasn’t too bad on the eyes. If the two of you ended up in bed together, well that wouldn’t be the end of the world.


	2. Cupid's Arrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You attempt to flirt with Bucky and it doesn't go according to plan

So the board was set - you were the black queen and he the white king. All you needed to do was corner his piece and then - check mate. Knight to C6; the game had begun. 

Your hair was wild but not in the way that looked untamed. No, it was that false ‘fresh out of bed’ look that models wore in advertisements; nothing like the real fresh out of bed look was. There was something alluring about a woman with long lashes beating over her glassy eyes, with that dishonest ‘I woke up like this’ fresh glow on your skin, with rosy lips and a lazy smile. It was a killer look and one that you were currently rocking. 

“Not much of an early riser either, hm?” you chuckled, moving around the kitchen in nothing but the robe that exposed a fair amount of your chest; while the rest of the team had adjusted to your promiscuity, it was new to Bucky. His eyes would trail from your lips to your chest and then back up to your lips when you continued talking. 

“Coffee’s cold by now. Sam and Steve make a pot when they wake up before the sun,” you explained. “I can put one on for you if you want.” You swirled around the kitchen as you put together a breakfast consisting of a cream cheese smothered bagel with chocolate chips and a berry smoothie. 

“Actually, whatever you’ve got in the blender right now looks pretty good,” Bucky said and leaned against the counter, yawning and wiping the sleep from his eyes. At least he had the decency to get fully dressed before starting his day; he didn’t need anyone to see him in his pajamas, though that didn’t seem to be an issue for you. 

After pouring your purple concoction into a glass and sliding it across the counter, you bat your eyes expectantly and waited to get his feedback on how it tasted. “Not bad,” he eventually said, licking the excess juice off his upper lip. You clapped your hands together - success! Having someone enjoy something you prepared was always a good feeling. 

“I’ll take ‘not bad’,” you grinned and sipped from your own glass. After taking a bite of your bagel, you wiped cream cheese off your chin and sucked it off your pinky all while maintaining eye contact with Bucky the entire time. 

“What do you want?” Bucky asked, clearly not amused but still unable to completely tear away from you. Whether he liked it or not, you had a magical quality about you - it was just the seduction doing its trick. There was still something about you that he couldn’t pin down and, until he could, he would be suspicious of you. 

Hoisting yourself up onto the counter near him so that the curve of your cleavage was now at his eye-level, you shrugged innocently. “What do you mean?” You tilt your head to the side and offered a disarming smile. When you attempted to reach over and brush your fingers playfully through his hair, he caught your wrist in the tight grasp of his left hand. 

“You know what I mean,” he stated confidently. Maybe he was an old man just as Steve was - unsavvy to most of the modernism of the world - but he wasn’t a complete fool. You were a spy, he knew that much; and there was no reason for you to be coming onto him like you were. As a former ladies’ man, he knew a thing or two about flirtations. So you wanted something and you were clearly using your body in an attempt to get it. 

So, seducing him was going to be harder than you had suspected but that didn’t mean you weren’t excited by the challenge. After all of his time at Hydra, you had expected him to be an absolute dog - drooling at the first set of boobs to present themselves. Surely the poor man hadn’t been able to satisfy his libido since the forties and you were a warm body presenting itself. You’d still use that to your advantage as you proceeded. 

You moved your hair off of your shoulders to further expose yourself as you leaned in just enough to tempt him with the chance to glimpse down your robe. “I’m sure you like things done the old-fashioned way but I’m a little impatient, if you couldn’t tell. It’s not like there’s a lot of fresh meat around here and what is already here is pretty much off the table,” you flirted. 

Falling right into your trap, Bucky’s eyes flitted down to your chest before flickering back up to your eyes, now sparkling with the same pride that fills a spider when a fly lands on its web. “Call me old-fashioned,” he shrugged off and downed the rest of the smoothie in one giant gulp, “I like to take a girl out a few times before she flashes me.”

He strolled towards the door as you laughed disdainfully. “Are you calling me easy, Barnes?” you asked. Oh, in your line of work it was impossible to avoid being called names. ‘Whore.’ ‘Harlot.’ ‘Skank.’ All of them you had heard before and they hardly stung before - they certainly didn’t sting now. 

“I’m not calling you anything,” he said as he left the room. You were an easy catch and he liked to consider himself a casual fisherman; there was no thrill in catching a fish that would swim right into his palm. While he didn’t care how you lived your life or how many men you slept with or how soon, he didn’t want to be one of them. 

Well, the task of getting Bucky to swoon over you was presenting more and more obstacles but that was of no concern to an Olympic gold-medal hurdler like you. You had said you wanted the challenge right? You considered yourself to be a fisherman, too, and Bucky was the prize you sought after - he was the great white shark and you just had to figure out which bait to use. You had started with worms - easy sex - that most of the idiot fish swam towards greedily and easily. It seemed like you’d need to dust off and pull out the big guns - the pursuit of a relationship. This might actually be fun. 

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Bucky’s nose scrunched ever so slightly when you plopped down beside him that evening. At least you had more beer in hand, even if it couldn’t get him drunk it was nice to pretend that it might. You handed him a bottle before twisting the cap off of your own. 

“Listen, I wanted to apologize for being so forward this morning. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable-” you began before he cut you off. 

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable. I’m not interested,” he corrected you before your inflated ego grew too much larger. While you knew full well how he felt about you at this point, the character you had been playing for years now did not. That was another thing that helped you win the hearts of men - aloofness; men loved to believe that they were far smarter than you were and it didn’t take much effort to come across like a complete ditz. 

“Okay,” you sighed and sipped your beer, pretending that the blow to your ego really had hurt when it had, in reality, felt like a pebble bouncing off of a windshield - inconsequential and only noticeable in the one instant that it lands its ineffective blow. “Well, we got off on the wrong foot and I want to make it up to you. Let me take you out to dinner. Or you can take me out to dinner if it makes you feel better.” 

Sam had been sitting on the far end of the couch observing the entire interaction with a confused yet amused expression. “I think it’d be good for you to get out. You’re a crusty old man and a date with a beautiful, young thing like (Y/N) would do you some good,” he said. Maybe getting some good pussy would make him lighten up since he seemed to drain the energy from any room he entered. In fact, Sam wasn’t sure he had even seen Bucky smile yet (a fact that wasn’t quite true even though it took a lot more work to get the ex-Winter Soldier to smile than the average person). 

“No,” Bucky turned down the effort without giving it any thought at all. “I think I’ll pass. Thanks for the offer.” He didn’t seem very thankful. For a moment, you were left questioning your own ability to be a fox. How many times would you have to put yourself out there before he caved? You were a lot of fun on dates! It was your job to know how to be a perfect partner so you knew you could show him a good time. 

“Come on,” you whined and scooted in closer so you could play with the ends of his hair. “We can go get drinks and maybe go dancing. Or if you don’t want to dance we could see a movie. Dating couldn’t have changed all that much from when you were in your prime. No need to be nervous,” you teased playfully. 

Bucky pulled from your tickling fingers and frowned, “I don’t know what you don’t get. I don’t want to go on a date with you. Since I need to spell it out, I don’t trust you either.” It seemed like he didn’t have anything else to say and so he excused himself without another word. 

“Well, that was pretty harsh,” Sam said once Bucky was out of earshot. 

You laughed it off though. “I can’t possibly fathom why someone would be distrusting of me. It’s not like my whole existence is one long continuation of different lies,” you joked without revealing the severity of the truth you had just spoken. What you had implied was that you were constantly filling different roles while on the job - everyone knew this and yet it wasn’t impossible to consider that some might find you untrustworthy because of it; no hard feelings on your end. Of course, what you had meant was that your entire life really seemed to be a lie, but so few people knew that that you had to sometimes remind yourself to keep from slipping away and making this your permanent reality. It was not. The reality was that you were an agent for Hydra and that Bucky was your mission; that was the only truth you knew. 

Sam joined in on your laughter mostly because he didn’t know what else to do. “Well, not like he’s the friendliest dude. Especially considering all the people he’s hurt,” he added. For someone with such a shady past, it wouldn’t kill Bucky to lighten up and put on a smile so he could make some friends - or at least some allies. At least, that’s what Sam thought… well, most people thought that. 

“I’m trying to give him the benefit of the doubt,” you sighed. “Wish he could offer me the same but I guess I get why he doesn’t.” The two of you sipped on your beers during the lull of the conversation. 

That’s when you decided (well, it hadn’t really been much of an option but now it was at least being declared) what you were going to do next. “I think I’m just going to have to pester him until he breaks. Shouldn’t be too hard right?” you laughed. Eventually he would wear thin enough that he’d agree to go on a date with you even if it was just to get you to leave him alone. That was fine, though. One official date was all you needed to make him fall in love with you - that you were certain of. 

“Not at all. You’re pretty annoying,” Sam agreed. You frowned playfully and threw some of the cushions at him before laughing. Sometimes, in moments like these, you had to remind yourself that these people weren’t actually your friends. They were (Y/N)’s friends. (Y/N) who was an Avenger and a hero and had friends and took out threats. She was so different from you. You were Hydra and a villain with no friends and you were a threat. It was best you didn’t forget it.


	3. Sweat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You try to get physically close to Bucky by offering to spar

The gym was surprisingly empty when you set up your yoga mat. A solid twenty minutes a day kept you limber and flexible; not to mention it was the closest thing you had to meditating since sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed wasn’t really your style. 

So there you were, bent over in the classic downward dog position when you heard the door creak open and then click shut. Peeking between your legs, you managed to get a glimpse of Bucky Barnes - dressed in a plain tee and sweatpants. His eyes lingered on your ass for an appropriate amount of time; it was in the air and kind of hard to miss. “Like what you see?” you chuckled before changing into the cobra position.

Bucky caught his retort before it rolled off his tongue; he was going to behave. Sure, he had looked at your ass but only because you were shining a spotlight on it by waving it around like some sort of trophy - it basically was though, wasn’t it? So he just snorted and moved to the far end of the room where he could let out some steam on a punching bag. 

After a few more minutes of stretching, you couldn’t help but wander over to Bucky’s corner of the room to begin your process of wearing him down. Leaning against the wall in a way that looked casual but still accentuated your curves, you opened a water bottle and watched a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. 

“You know,” you cleared your throat and pushed off against the wall when you realized that, after one quick glance, he wasn’t looking your way again, “that if you’re really looking to blow off some steam, you could just ask. I know a great exercise for two people that’ll really calm your nerves.”

The innuendo was implicit but also a little too forward. All according to plan, though. First, make sure that when he looked at you he thought about sex; sex (or the pursuit of it) was obviously key in seduction. Second, make him come to you for it. So, while it initially sounded like you were putting sex on the table, you were, in fact, suggesting something else. 

You sauntered past him and began to wrap your fists in tape to protect your knuckles. “Come on,” you smirked and held up your fists as you slowly backed onto the blue mats on the floor. “Throw a few punches. Let me see what you’ve got. We’ll really break a sweat.” Third, make physical contact. Since he didn’t seem to appreciate your gentle arm touches or the way you’d play with his long hair, you’d have to settle for this. Wrestling would offer more than enough contact and it wasn’t so different from sex - good sex - except that you were (unfortunately) clothed. 

Bucky wasn’t quite buying what you were selling so you ended up grabbing his wrists and pulling him over to the mats. “Just pin me, or try to at least, and I’ll leave you alone,” you promised and raised your fists again while bouncing on the balls of your feet. Even though he still wasn’t keen on the idea of interacting with you more than he needed to, and he wasn’t quite at the point of disliking you so much that he felt the urge to hit you, he knew that the only way to get you to leave him alone was to cave in and spar with you. 

At least there were worse things the two of you could be doing. Besides, he had beat your ass before; just because he didn’t have Hydra in his brain anymore didn’t mean that he automatically forgot how to fight. The muscle memory alone would carry him through this little match - but he did remember just about everything from his time as the Winter Soldier so that did give him an added edge when it came to combat. 

While you usually didn’t prefer to make the first move, it was clear that Bucky wasn’t going to be the instigator so, if you were going to ensure he continued to play along, you had to throw the first punch. Of course, he blocked your swing easily. He had greatly underestimated just how slippery you could be, though. His intention had been to end this quickly but everytime he felt like he had you well enough in his grasp for him to slam you on your back and pin your shoulders to the mat, you were contorting out of his grip and all while wearing this idiotic grin. 

“Come on. You beat the shit out of me in DC. You can do better,” you egged him on. Maybe teasing someone who already wasn’t your biggest fan wasn’t the best way to get into his pants but that was you - full of quips and an attitude that not everyone had an easy time digesting; call it a self-defense mechanism, a bad coping mechanism, or whatever you’d like but it was one thing you had a hard time putting away unless you were on the job. Well… you were on the job now but it wasn’t quite the same. 

You rolled your shoulders and beckoned with your forefingers for him to come at you. Fine, if you wanted to be beaten, then he would oblige. Turned out that he had been pulling his punches and was able to land quite a few more hits. What you didn’t disclose is that you had been pulling your punches when you fought him in DC a few years ago - he was precious Hydra cargo and one of the few assets you weren’t supposed to betray (since being so deep undercover often resulted in you helping attack your organization in order to keep your cover). So he was surprised that you continued to hold your own so well; but that could’ve been chalked up to practice and natural improvement during the gap in time between then and now. 

Bucky’s eyes narrowed. Something about this felt familiar and it was strange that he couldn’t put his finger on just what was giving him that tickle in the back of his mind. You used your thumb to wipe the corner of your bust lip. Sure, you were holding your own far better than he had been expecting but he was still better trained for attacks than you were. 

The longer the two of you danced around the mat, the more intense it became. Instead of a slow, steady, and almost apprehensive waltz, the two of you fell into a heated, quick-stepped, fiery tango. Strange how the two of you seemed to know the same steps. It was becoming clearer to Bucky that your fighting style wasn’t so unlike his - just adjusted to your size since you couldn’t fight with the same brute strength as a taller, larger super soldier with a metal arm like he could. He led and you followed, both of you dripping with sweat and growing more determined to win.

If it had originally been your intention to let him win just to boost the fragile male ego, it was no longer your intention now. It’s not like you had anything to prove but you felt determined to win. Maybe because the veil had fallen for just a moment, just during this dance, and you were tired of pretending to be this lewd, moderately feeble icon of sex. You were a fighter so you were fighting. 

By some miracle, you got your ankle hooked around his which gave you the leverage you needed to yank his feet out from underneath him. There you were, achieving that closeness you desired, by climbing on top of him. You straddled his chest and used your knees to pin his forearms to his side while you pressed down on his shoulders to pin him.

The only issue with trying to pin Bucky’s left arm is that it was made of metal and it was far stronger than a normal arm. He managed to lift your knee off of his arm just enough for him to grab your calf. In one swift motion, he yanked you off of his body and slammed you back on the mat. 

Before he even had the chance to properly pin you, you had your legs wrapped around his waist and you somersaulted his body behind you. Had the two of you coordinated your motions just a little more then it might’ve looked like you were practicing for a circus act. 

The two of you kept rolling around, your heavy breathing seemingly filled the room with a humidity that caused your hair to friz and explode out of the ponytail it had been in; or maybe you really were just sweating a lot. This little spar had gone on longer than either of you had anticipated and it was beginning to show. 

With one final ‘UMPH’, Bucky slammed your back against the mat once more and pinned your chest down with his metal forearm. While you tried to wiggle out of his hold, your muscles were shaky and exhausted. So you closed your eyes, trying not to wallow in the sting of losing, and finally found a moment to catch your breath. 

There you were, laying on the mat with Bucky’s body almost entirely over yours. His weight on top of you wasn’t uncomfortable beyond the added heat to your already sticky body. His face was surprisingly close to yours and it was hard not to share the air he breathed. You looked into his steely blue eyes and he looked deep into yours. Deciding that mentioning it would ruin the moment, you instead silently reveled in the success of your plan; look at how close he was to you - the two of you were practically kissing. 

The longer he was above you, the more you began to wonder if he was going to kiss you. That would be nice; his lips did look soft - well, and that would be good for the mission. He was looking at your own lips with consideration as well. How easy it would be for him to steal a kiss - just one kiss. But he didn’t. 

Whatever fire that was threatening to ignite should he remain pinning you down for even a moment longer was extinguished when he climbed off of you. A wave of cool air rushed over your body which cooled every inch of you that he had been touching. You felt a connection to him as well which was strange. In your line of work, it was impossible to feel connected to anyone but here you were feeling… well something. It definitely wasn’t the same something he was feeling either - it was less suspicious or uneasy and more curious. Saying that he gave you butterflies would be a stretch, but maybe there were a few caterpillars that had managed to form cocoons in the caverns of your being instead. 

Bucky moved back to the punching bag but just leaned his forehead against it a moment before giving up and giving in. He needed a water bottle and a nap. You had been right about one thing, that had been a good workout. “If you want me to beat your ass again, just let me know,” he said on his way out the door. 

You, still laying on the mat and catching your breath, smirked. There it was - your plan falling into action. But, more than that, you were genuinely hoping that the opportunity would arise for you to take him up on his offer.


	4. Sticky Fingers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky breaks into your room to try and find dirt on you. What he finds is more than he bargained for.

You silently leaned against your doorframe watching as Bucky rifled through your drawers. At least he was being considerate enough to close them when he was done. He even tucked your sheet back in after lifting your bed. Of course, he was only putting things back as they were so that it was less likely that you knew he’d been rummaging through your things. 

Just as he found what he was looking for, you moved behind him and stood on your tiptoes to peer over his shoulder. “What’d you find?” you asked innocently even though you knew exactly what he had. He spun around and jammed his hand into his back pocket and dropped the flash drive before you could pry it from his fingers. 

It was cute. He actually looked embarrassed; must not have thought he would get caught. “You’re used to just barging in and taking what you want, aren’t you?” you chuckled. Someone who approached a situation with guns blazing tended to take things by force and with little remorse about the carnage left in their wake - that described the Winter Soldier pretty perfectly. 

“Didn’t find anything worth my time,” Bucky cleared his throat, knowing that the odds of him walking him out of that room with his evidence was pretty slim. Surely you had seen him grab the flash drive and, if you hadn’t, he wasn’t the best liar in the world (he was doing a shitty job lying right now). 

“You were rooting through the wrong drawer,” you informed him calmly before sliding open the door containing not regular underwear, but your lingerie. It was ammo in the weapon of seduction so you had quite the collection. You pulled out a black pair of lacy panties and held them up with a coy smirk. “Is this what you were looking for?” 

His face was red but that was the only indication of just how bashful you suddenly made him feel. He wasn’t used to this kind of forwardness since he had been in his prime eighty years ago in the forties when flashing panties was slightly more taboo and a little less sophisticated. Well, not like it was the most sophisticated now but it was far less taboo.

“No,” he cleared his throat and inched past you, afraid to brush against you even slightly lest he catch on fire from embarrassment. Maybe he should leave the spy work to the spies; he just couldn’t ask for help investigating you since everyone else on the team seemed to like and trust you, though.

Waving your fingers, you let him sneak out quietly as the cloud of shame, embarrassment, and nervousness darkened the air around him. Since the fun was only beginning, though, you counted to ten before following him down the hall. His guilty conscience had caused him to really high-tail it out of there; he was dipping into his room which was at the opposite end of the hall before you even poked your head out. 

Because you didn’t want to miss the look on his face, you ran down the hall as silently as you could manage (which was pretty silent since silence was also another key weapon for a spy). “What a dumbass,” you silently laughed in your mind; Bucky had left his door cracked open as he began to empty a space in his dresser drawer so that he could hide the flash drive for now. Thank God, or Tony (the same thing?), for designing such a sleek, modern building - that meant the doors didn’t creak on their hinges which made it much easier for you to sneak into the room.

Bucky dug his hand into his back pocket. Oh how much money you would’ve paid to see his confused expression but his back was still turned towards you. “Looking for this?” you asked after clearing your throat. He spun around quickly with that black pair of panties hooked around his finger while you were waving the flash drive around. 

“How-” He began to ask but realized that the answer didn’t really matter. Not only had he been caught in his lie, but he hadn’t even been able to sneak off with his prize. 

“You’re used to taking this by force. This is a little more up my alley,” you bragged and tossed the flash drive up in the air before catching it once more. His nose twitched irritably. Your ability to pickpocket (and to do it so well) was not improving his already negative opinion of you. 

The next time you threw the flash drive up, you threw it in his direction. The action took him by surprise but he was still able to catch it before it clattered to the ground. “Next time, you can just ask to see what’s on it. Go ahead. Plug ‘er in,” you encouraged him. He raised his eyebrow suspiciously but he was too curious to not try it even if it did feel like you were leading him straight into a trap. At this point, he had to know what was on it. 

He awkwardly held out the panties as if this were some sort of hostage-swap situation. “Keep ‘em.” You had more than enough lingerie and the bright red glow on his face was well worth losing the pair. Bucky cleared his throat uncomfortably and just sat them on top of his dresser, still afraid of touching them as if they were barbed and would stick to his flesh if he gripped onto them any harder. It was hard to stifle a laugh; wasn’t he supposedly a ladies’ man back in the day? Maybe something had been lost in translation; martyrs and heroes tended to have their stories embellished posthumously as some twisted form of respect or memorialization of their memory. 

Because this little adventure was still only beginning, you hung around so you could enjoy his reaction to what was on the flash drive. Bucky still wasn’t quite tech savvy but he managed to figure out how to plug the USB stick into the tablet Tony had given him in lieu of a laptop. One innocent folder popped up and he pressed his forefinger to the icon. 

Your eyes were glued to his face with the same expression that expectant parents wore when their child got to the biggest box underneath the Christmas tree - a mixture of phony indifference and eager anticipation. His eyebrows twitched together before his eyes widened. Not that you had been able to hear his heart beating before, but the silence that it left when it grew still was just as noticeable as his lack of breathing. 

Luckily he had chosen to view the file while sitting on the edge of the bed because he would’ve needed to take a seat. He scrolled through the pictures in the file with glazed eyes; he couldn’t quite give up looking for some sort of dirt on you but he also didn’t want to continue to look at the pictures. “Come on, Buck. You haven’t even clicked on any,” you teased after taking a seat beside him. Bucky had only been looking at the small icons without blowing any of them up to fill the screen. So you reached across and tapped the first icon that your finger could reach which caused the picture to expand. 

If he hadn’t been red before, he was red now. While digging around your room and hoping to find something - anything - that would prove you to be guilty, he felt lucky to have found a hidden flash drive. What were you guilty of? Well, he wasn’t quite sure why he was suspicious of you nor did he have any clues as to what you might’ve done; but he had that gut feeling that he was relying and, so far, it hadn’t really steered him wrong. In this case… it had steered him a little wrong. Instead of finding secret documents or emails, he instead found a file of your nudes. 

“Natasha helped me take them,” you explained just as simply as if you were explaining that red and yellow makes orange and not as if this man you hardly knew was looking at a picture of your tits. “I use them for work. Men are incredibly horny, but I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that,” you laughed and began to scroll through the blown up pictures so he could get a good look. He had wanted to see what was on the drive, didn’t he? Well, now he was; he was getting a very good look. As much as he wanted to look away, his eyes were drawn to your naked (or sometimes half-naked) body. 

“The best part is that I actually have a few more of these drives hidden in the same drawer. I’m surprised you didn’t see them. I usually pawn them off onto my target. They plug it in and then boom - access to their computer and their camera. See?” After finishing your explanation, you held up your phone which had been turned to your monitoring app. Right there on your screen was the face of one bashful WWII, unthawed popsicle - one Sergeant James Barnes. 

“Why do you hide them?” he asked, his voice hoarse and almost squeaky. It dawned on you that this could be his first real exposure to porn. Outside of a few little sketches and the actual naked body, how many dirty images had he seen before? You couldn’t help but smile at the realization that he had probably never seen a film either! No Breast Side Story, no Throbin Hood, no Pulp Friction. All things considered, he’d probably be better off searching something generic like ‘big boobs blonde’ than watching any of those cheesy movies.

He did ask a fair question, though. If you were using these drives for work then why were they hidden in your sock drawer? Easy. “Well, I’m not in the business of showing my tits off for free. I don’t usually let anyone sneak in and steal one so they can get a free look,” you scolded him. Not that you really minded who saw, but why give away the goods for free? This was for work and if anyone wanted a peek then you wanted something in return. 

Bucky unplugged it and handed it back to you, clearly more ashamed than he had been when you caught him stealing in the first place. You snatched it out of his hand after debating whether or not you wanted him to keep it just for the hell of it. But no, while he was your current job, these weren’t for him. Besides, what were the odds of him looking at them again anyway? He was like a kid who got caught smoking - the shame of being caught would forever taint every experience of the same kind to follow. 

He didn’t need the photos anyway; he still had the panties. You snatched them off the dresser and tossed them back his way before adding, “You’ve seen pictures of me in them now. I think it’d be fair if you returned the favor some time.” Bucky’s eyes grew wide. No way in hell was he putting these on and definitely not for you! But you laughed, only half-joking, and left the room. 

Maybe he was still suspicious of you. That was just a minor speedbump. He had your panties and had seen photos from your little boudoir shoot. Now that was a major step in the right direction. In no time now, he’d be craving a taste of you so bad that he’d salivate just at the sight of you. And you couldn’t wait.


End file.
